Update: 'Cliff' Deal Helps Protect Medicare Stroke Patients

As the world welcomed 2013 this week, a serious deadline loomed for stroke patients on Medicare. The Medicare therapy caps ‘exceptions process’ was set to expire on December 31st, 2012, putting beneficiaries at risk of not being able to access the physical, speech, and occupational therapies they may need.

However, the last minute deal by Congress to avoid the ‘fiscal cliff’, called the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, included a provision supported by the AHA/ASA that extends the Medicare therapy caps exceptions process for one year, until December 31, 2013. This provision will once again help ensure that Medicare beneficiaries who have a stroke will be able to access medically-necessary therapy services even after the limits have been reached.

Thank you to the advocates who answered our call to action to push Congress for a resolution on this critical issue!